Dear Honorable Mayor Wolosin and Councilmembers,
November is Family Court Awareness Month. The month of November provides an excellent opportunity for the City of Menlo Park to demonstrate its support in recognizing the importance of a family court system that prioritizes child safety and acts in the best interest of children. With the recent passing of (SB 331-Rubio): Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence, we want to continue to shine a spotlight on this important issue.
The effort organized by Tina Swithin of One Mom’s Battle and Sandra Ross of California Protective Parents Association determined to bring awareness to the conservatively estimated tens of thousands of children a year who are ordered into unsupervised contact with abusive parents, where hundreds of children were murdered.
In 2022, 366 jurisdictions, including the states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia, publicly demonstrated their commitment to child safety in the family court system. Mayors, county officials, and governors around the country have pledged their support with proclamations and/ or resolutions officially declaring the month of November as Family Court Awareness Month in their respective communities.
During the inaugural 2020 Family Court Awareness Month, top advocates in the family court system joined forces in a united effort to honor hundreds of children who have been reported as murdered by parents in family court cases, that included five-year-old “Piqui” Andressian, who was murdered because of a California family court failure; seven-year-old Kayden Mancuso, who was murdered because of a Pennsylvania family court failure; and four-year-old Greyson Kessler because of a Florida Family Court failure.
Our goal for Family Court Awareness Month 2023, is to shine a spotlight on our family court system lacking proper training. Family court professionals should receive training surrounding the topics they rule about every day, which include domestic violence, child sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, trauma, coercive control, as well as victim and perpetrator behaviors.
Many are shocked to discover that most states do not have mandated domestic violence training requirements prior to a judicial officer presiding over family court cases and ultimately, are misguided in determining the fate of innocent children who are living with familial violence. In the states that do have requirements for domestic violence training, it is very minimal, in fact in at least one state, barbers and beauticians have more mandated domestic violence training than do its judges.
Many families in our community are struggling in silence and facing the reality that child safety is not being prioritized, and that our bench officials need tools to help ensure children are not living trapped in trauma and abuse, and even worse, dying at the hands of a dangerous parent.
Here is the proposed wording for the proclamation:
WHEREAS, the mission of the Family Court Awareness Month Committee (FCAMC) is to increase awareness on the importance of a family court system that prioritizes child safety and acts in the best interest of children, and;
WHEREAS, the mission at the FCAMC is fueled by the desire to create awareness and change in the family court system for the conservatively estimated, 58,000 children a year ordered into unsupervised contact with abusive parents, while honoring the hundreds of children who have been reported as murdered during visitation with a dangerous parent, and;
WHEREAS, the mission of the FCAMC is to increase awareness on the importance of empirically-based education and training on domestic violence and child abuse, including emotional, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as childhood trauma, coercive control, and post separation abuse for judges and all professionals working on cases within the family court system, and;
WHEREAS, the mission of the FCAMC is to increase awareness on the importance of using scientifically valid, evidence-based, treatment programs and services that are proven in terms of safety, effectiveness, and therapeutic value, and;
WHEREAS, the mission at the FCAMC is to educate judges and other family court professionals on evidence-based, peer-reviewed research. Such research is a critical component to making decisions that are truly in the best interest of children.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, _____________________ hereby declare the Month of NOVEMBER, to be FAMILY COURT AWARENESS MONTH.
I encourage all residents to support their local communities efforts to prevent the harm of children in the hands of family members and to honor and value the lives of children.
If you, or your staff, have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me or respond to this email. I will follow-up with your office on this request in the next few days. As always, we appreciate your support. Thank you for considering this very important request.
Sincerely,
Elaine Farrell
FCAM Advocate
949-303-8246
